Mason Stred’s strike lifts McCann Tech boys soccer past rival Drury in Bi-County West clash

NORTH ADAMS — Sometimes in soccer, the slimmest of margins decide games.

A little over five minutes after Bi-County West rival Drury tied the game in the second half, McCann Tech kept its composure and responded with a surprising goal. On a feed from Brennan Vallieres, senior Mason Stred fired a shot with pace that appeared to be going wide but found its way into the bottom-right corner to give the Hornets the lead.

“I was aiming for the bottom right corner,” Stred said. “I was happy with where it went. It went exactly where I wanted it to, and I was just happy with the shot overall.”

On Thursday afternoon at Drury High School, McCann Tech keeper Ben Harris made four of his seven saves in the final 10 minutes. The Hornets defense kept up its strong start to the season, powering McCann to a key 2-1 victory over its rival.

The Hornets took the short trip up the street to battle rival Drury Thursday afternoon.

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“Obviously it makes me wicked happy,” Stred said. “They’re our crosstown rivals; they’re gonna be one of our biggest competitors for the league title and probably in the Western Mass bracket, and it's important to us taking home the dub this year.

“It’s gonna push us through the rest of the season knowing that we accomplished this today, and it's going to carry everything home down the line for what we want this season.”

McCann (5-0-1) continues its unbeaten start. The lone tie for the Hornets came against league rival Gateway last week. McCann is also still unbeaten against the Blue Devils this decade.

McCann’s defense continues to shine as it has not allowed more than one goal in a game this season. The Hornets are also on a heater offensively as they have scored 10 goals in their last four games.

“From Day 1 when I started coaching years ago here at McCann, I’ve always built my defense and worked forward, and I still do that to this day,” McCann head coach Steve McAllister said. “Some people think I’m nuts, but it’s been like this every season. We don’t give up many goals. As long as our defense can keep the low-scoring game and we get one or two in, we’re good.”

McCann will be back in action next Wednesday at home against league foe Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School.

McCann got off to a fast start, generating chances and applying pressure on the Drury backline. The work rate paid off for the Hornets as a little over 10 minutes into the game, Hayden Bona buried a header on a corner kick feed from Max Plekhanov.

Following the goal, Drury’s Julian Feliciano did a good job tracking Bona, and the two had strong battles for the ball and positioning. Feliciano was the best defender for the Blue Devils and showed excellent leadership. Drury keeper Max Soto also had five of his game-high nine saves in the first half.

Drury flipped the script in the second half, starting fast and getting rewarded for it. A little over 12 minutes into the half, Diego Luna found Isaac Vasquez, who took a few touches and placed a shot into the far corner to tie the game at 1-1.

After Stred gave McCann the lead, Drury kept fighting and generated multiple quality chances. Izaiah Grandchamp missed a shot in the box, and Harris had an incredible diving save to his right on a hard shot from Harrington.

In the final minutes, Honour Peck had a strong block on a shot from Harrington. Bona almost added his second goal but had a shot go off the crossbar on a breakaway attempt.

McAllister has built great trust with his players and allows them to pitch ideas and be vocal during games. The best example of that on Thursday was in the second half when senior Ashton Solomon sensed the team needed his presence in the midfield and asked McAllister to switch and he agreed.

Drury (4-3) has lost two straight since winning four games in a row. All three of the Blue Devils' losses have been by one goal. Despite the defeat on Thursday, Drury has already won more games than it did all of last season.

“We’re playing and competing really hard, and I’m happy with our compete level,” Drury head coach John Jacobbe said. “We just got to figure out how to flip the scores. McCann’s a good team. We knew that. Gateway was a good team. We knew that, and Taconic was a good team… We got to just turn the little things around.

“Their goalie made a great save to preserve the [win], so you give him credit, but I would have liked to have seen more shots on net… We got to just keep fighting and find a way to win these close ones.”

The Blue Devils will host league foe PVCICS next Thursday.